Theatre and Culture from Scotland, starring The List's Theatre Editor, his performance persona and occasional guest stars. Experimental writings, cod-academic critiques and all his opinions, stolen or original.

Wednesday, 13 April 2016

OMG! Jack Chick and Gareth K Vile.

In this panel, Vile suggests that The Illuminati are loving the row about how intersectionality is becoming authoritarian: time is being spent on moaning that the 'feminists' are attacking freedom of speech, while the immensely wealthy are having a high old time getting all the money.

The lady is speaking from an anti-feminist position, although she could also be a feminist being nasty to a 'snowflake'. That's the magic of pictures - they can have more than one possible reading! This interesting thought has not occurred to many on the 'manosphere', who apply a lumpen version of objectivity to shout down feminism, or intersectionality.

The complexity of intersectionality is ill-served by the attempts to claim privilege through oppression. Recently, I have seen videos in which a white man has been told that if he believes 'black lives matter', he ought to kill himself. This is inevitably going to be retweeted by the people who don't like his movement, and make the entire campaign look like a rampant and racist attack on white people, rather than a recognition of the particular problem of black people being killed by the police in greater numbers, and for no reason. I have also seen a woman told that she cannot say that trans-women do not have the same life experiences as a cis-woman. Even though that statement has a good basis in reality (I don't like the word truth here...), her right to say it is rejected on the grounds of her gender. That would be sexism, then.

The notion that oppression or bullying is only really racism if it is systemic - or at least supported by authority or culture - allows the idea that it is not oppression if it is done by an oppressed person. This has led to the public declarations by people who haven't even finished their degrees to say that they can't be oppressors, even if they do something that is oppressive.

Here's the irony: many of the arguments about whether or not trans identity is respected (and yes, it should be) are not directed at the people who are in positions of control, but at individuals who are likely to be sympathetic if they weren't being told that they are oppressive, or don't have the right to an opinion. Meanwhile, the patriarchy is probably masturbating over videos of excluded groups trying to exclude each other.

Absurd opinions, extended reviews, random press releases from The Arts, half baked ideas, unsuccessful experiments with the format of criticism. Brought to you by the host of The Vile Arts Radio Hour and former Theatre Editor of The Skinny, now working with The List